Petter og Oliver Solberg skal delta i Race of Champions, som neste år kjøres i Sydney, Australia. Les mer i denne pressemeldingen på engelsk.
Petter and Oliver Solberg will join forces to chase a third successive ROC Nations Cup title when the Race of Champions runs in Australia next March.
The father and son pair combined to deliver back-to-back success for Team Norway in Sweden in the previous two editions of the popular event, but next year’s Sydney-based event will present very different conditions from the snow and ice of Piteå, just south of the Arctic Circle.
Three-time FIA world champion Petter has happy memories of both ROC and his time competing in Australia, albeit on the other side of the country in Perth.
“Race of Champions is definitely one of the highlights of the season,” said Petter. “The competition is fantastic, racing against so many drivers from so many different areas of the sport – and it’s really cool to be driving with Oliver. And we’ve done quite well for the last two years!
“Australia is definitely a place with good memories for me; it’s where Pernilla and me got engaged and I remember Oliver coming out there with us for the first time when he was just one!
“From the competition side, Rally Australia was always one of the best organised WRC rounds. I did it eight times in my career and winning in Perth in 2003 was a special one. The people, the fans are great out there, with lots of passion for the sport. And driving in a stadium like the Accor in Sydney will be fantastic.”
First built for the 2000 Summer Olympics and originally known as Stadium Australia, the Sydney venue will be transformed to host a one-kilometre track for the March 7/8 spectacular.
Oliver is excited to make his competitive debut in Australia. He said: “It’s always nice to go to an event as the defending champion and even better when you are the champion with your father!
“Everybody goes to Race of Champions to kind of enjoy themselves a little bit and to hang out with drivers from other championships, but then the competition is always super-close when we are pulling on the helmet.
“Like you can imagine, I don’t remember my first visit to Australia but I’m really hoping my dad and I can make this one a memorable one and make the Nations Cup hat-trick. It’s sure that it’s going to be a different feeling from this Race of Champions, the conditions will be quite different from what we had in Sweden!”
As well as competing for the prestigious title under the Team Norway banner, Petter and Oliver will also contest the ROC World Final for the opportunity to be crowned Champion of Champions. The pursuit of individual glory will bring them face-to-face with some of motorsport’s biggest names including Sébastien Loeb, Travis Pastrana, Sebastian Vettel and Johan Kristoffersson.
Petter added: “The chance to race against people like Loeb and Vettel is what really makes Race of Champions special – and the party’s a special one too!”